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CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Lee snapped to attention as the door to Mama’s hospital room opened. He’d dozed for a moment there, but the truth was, it could’ve been an hour. He really had no way of knowing. Time didn’t pass correctly in the hospital.
A woman stood framed in the doorway, and Lee decided his eyes didn’t work either. “Rosalie?” He glanced over to Mama’s bed, where she slept. She’d been doing that a lot over the past two days as her frail physical body tried desperately to fight the virus she’d caught. She had plenty of antibiotics going into her system, and the doctors had been pleased with her progress from last night to this morning.
Lee honestly had no idea what time it was, but Rosalie wore a pair of black slacks, a plaid blouse in dark green and black, and she carried two pizza boxes. His mouth watered instantly, but he wasn’t sure if that was because of the woman or the food.
“Lee Cooper,” she said, using both of his names in a way only Texas women could do when they were spitting fire, disappointed, or in Rosalie’s case, both.
Lee swallowed and ran his hands down his thighs. “What are you doin’ here?”
She glanced over to Mama and back to him. “What am Idoin’here?” She stomped into the room, and that had to hurt in her heels, even as low as they were. She shoved the pizza into his hands, and Lee was so glad he’d sent Will, Trav, and Daddy home for a couple of hours. Of course, Lee had no idea how long they’d been gone, and they could walk in at any moment.
Rosalie’s eyes fired at him, but most of all, they shone with…hurt.
Lee turned and set the pizza on the rolling tray where the nurses brought in Mama’s meals. She’d been able to eat quite a bit that day, and Lee felt confident they’d be able to go home by Sunday. That was still two more days, but he was determined to get her home by then.
How he could do that, he didn’t know, but he’d been praying mighty hard over the past day and a half.
“Your mother is in the hospital,” Rosalie said, gesturing to Mama with a fist. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“I—”
“No,” she said, drawing out the word as she tilted her head. “You don’t get to talk until I’m done. Isn’t that what you want, Lee? To remain silent? To do everything yourself? To find comfort in yourself instead of with me? With anyone?”
She threw all the questions at him, one after the other, and Lee could only blink at her. He certainly couldn’t argue with her.
“Instead of sending me a text with a sentence or two, I’m shopping after a long, tiring week,anda trip down to my manufacturer, and who do I run into? Your son…and your ex-wife. They told me you were here and needed food.” She parked her hands on her hips and glared with all the power of gravity. “How do you think that makes me feel?”
Lee hung his head, because he couldn’t hide from her. He wore no cowboy hat, and he had no excuse. None besides the fact that he hadn’t wanted to worry her. He hadn’t wanted to admit to her that he needed anyone to comfort him. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
“Do you want to break-up with me?” she demanded.
“What?” He looked up and into her eyes. “No.”
Her shoulders rose as she took in a long breath. She ran both hands over her hair and let her arms fall to her sides again. “I do not understand you, Lee Cooper.” She sounded resigned and defeated, and Lee hated that.
“I didn’t want you to worry.”
“Not good enough,” she said. “All you had to do was say, ‘Rose, I’m at the hospital with my family, but things are okay.’ Or maybe they’re not. I don’t know, becauseyou didn’t tell me.”
Lee didn’t dare speak in case she wasn’t finished. As he watched the anger and fight drain out of her, he reached for her hand. She resisted him for a moment, then two, and Lee said, “I’m sorry, Rose.”
“I’m not sure you get to call me that,” she said even as she laced her fingers through his.
“I’m really sorry,” he said. “I…I don’t want to make any excuses. I wasn’t in a good place yesterday.”
“Or today,” she said.
“Or today,” he admitted.
“And your mama?” She looked at Mama with compassion in her eyes, and Lee wondered how Rosalie could let people into her life so easily. “What’s going on with her?”
“She has the flu,” Lee said, stepping closer to Mama. “With her compromised immune system, she couldn’t fight it off. She had another infection, and they’re treating that with antibiotics. She’s been responding well to those, as well as recovering pretty fast with all the fluids.”
Rosalie joined him at the side of Mama’s bed. “That’s great,” she said. Her stomach growled loudly, and Lee looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
“You wanna eat with me?”
